Right side of Eagles' offensive line should be lock for Pro Bowl

Right side of Eagles' offensive line should be lock for Pro Bowl

If everything continues to go to plan this season, the trio of Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson won't be in Orlando in late January for the Pro Bowl.

If everything goes to plan, the Eagles' right side of the line will be too busy preparing to play in the Super Bowl.

They'll certainly be deserving of making it to the Pro Bowl though.

"I want to, man," Johnson said about the whole right side of the line making it. "I don't want to campaign for myself. But as far as the years we're having, we're doing pretty good."

Sometimes recognition is slow to come for offensive linemen. Kelce has already been to two Pro Bowls, so the name recognition will help his cause. Meanwhile, Brooks has been in the league since 2012, and Johnson has been in the league since 2013; neither has made a Pro Bowl yet.

But it's hard to argue with results, and they're certainly deserving this season.

While the Eagles lost future Hall of Fame left tackle Jason Peters for the season in the second Washington game and while they have started three different players at left guard before settling on Stefen Wisniewski, the right side of the offensive line has been incredible through 11 games.

Kelce and Brooks have started every game and Johnson missed just one because of a concussion and a Thursday night game.

"It’s a luxury not only to have those guys healthy but just playing together and [having] three guys playing at a very high level," offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. "The consistency of that, the confidence in that just grows more and more every week."

Johnson has been playing at a completely different level all season. It's pretty clear he had a mission coming into the 2017 season. He wanted to prove he was one of the NFL's best tackles and he wanted to prove doubters wrong after his second PED suspension last season.

Through 11 games, Johnson has shut down top pass-rushers like Ryan Kerrigan, Von Miller and Demarcus Lawrence. Halapoulivaati Vaitai has played well enough at left tackle to allow Johnson to stay on the right side, where he has been simply dominant (see story).

"I don't like to over-hype players, especially in the middle of the season, but Lane is playing great football," Reich said. "I just can't imagine there's a better right tackle in the league. I can't imagine there's any tackle — if you add up the cumulative guys that he's going to have to block by the time is year is over and their sacks, I mean, it's unreal."

Brooks has overcome his anxiety issues to start the first 10 games this season. The only snaps he missed came when he got a break at the end of the Denver game in garbage time. The former third-round pick, who joined the Eagles before last season as a free agent, has always had Pro Bowl potential. But he's starting to fulfill it this season.

According to ProFootballFocus, Brooks hasn't given up a sack and has given up just one quarterback hit all season.

"It makes it easier, man. He's having a Pro Bowl year," Johnson said about playing with Brooks. "I look at Kelce and Brooks. [Brooks] is 340-plus, whatever he is, and he just makes it a lot easier for me blocking inside."

Then there's Kelce, who is one of the longest-tenured players on the team. The center has been in Philly since he was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 draft and he's had plenty of ups and downs during his time.

While he made the Pro Bowl last season, he didn't necessarily have a Pro Bowl season. Recently, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland took the blame for that, saying he asked too much of Kelce during the 2016 season. Kelce had a different reason for why things have been going so much better toward the end of last season and into this one.

"I don't know about that," Kelce said, responding to Stoutland's comments. "I just know I'm utilizing different techniques. I'm using my hands better. Not just me, I think it's everybody. And then another year being in the system, in the offense, you're more comfortable, you understand everything better."

It's not incredibly rare for a team to send an entire side of its offensive line to the Pro Bowl. In fact, the Eagles did it as recently as 2014, when the left side of Kelce, Evan Mathis and Peters went. But that season Mathis played in just nine games.

In the second year with the center, right guard and right tackle together, the chemistry is clearly at a new high. Rookie running back Corey Clement noted that the guys on that side of the line just seem to complement one another.

What's it like running behind them?

"It's an honor," Clement said. "Anybody can see it on the outside. Anybody who wants to be in this running back corps, you get a great group of guys who lay it out every week for you."

Turns out, Alshon Jeffery was injured all season

Turns out, Alshon Jeffery was injured all season

We all know about the myriad injuries the Eagles suffered on their way to the Super Bowl.

Nobody knew about this one.

Alshon Jeffery had surgery Wednesday morning to repair a torn rotator cuff that he played through all season, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Per Rapoport, Jeffery suffered the injury in training camp this past summer. We did know Jeffery suffered some sort of shoulder injury during the summer. Even after he returned, Doug Pederson remained very cautious with Jeffery. At the time, that seemed strange. Pederson just kept saying he held him out at his own discretion, even though it seemed like Jeffery and Carson Wentz needed time to build chemistry. All that seems to make more sense now.

Rotator cuff injuries can be especially difficult for wide receivers (over-the-head catches) and any skill player who gets tackled to the ground. In recent years, rotator cuff tears have either ended the season or caused multiweek absences for Eric Decker, Martellus Bennett and Plaxico Burress, among others.

Jeffery's ability to play the whole season with a shoulder injury makes what he was able to do all the more impressive. He made a quick impact, catching two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in Weeks 1-4, then scored seven TDs from Weeks 8-14 before turning in a strong postseason.

Along the way, Jeffery earned a new contract that pays him $26.75 million guaranteed with a full value of $52 million.

Safe to say that playing through pain worked out. How crazy is it to consider now that on Wentz's crucial Week 14 touchdown pass to Jeffery in L.A., the QB had a torn ACL and the receiver had a torn rotator cuff.

Jeffery confirmed the surgery via Instagram story on Wednesday afternoon.

Billy BrownRoob: Don't be surprised if Brown makes the team next year. He's got good size at 6-4/255, and from what we've seen he has pretty good hands. We saw his catching ability at training camp last year, and he caught eight passes for 51 yards in the preseason. Brown spent the entire 2017 season on the practice squad, but with the future of both Trey Burton and Brent Celek up in the air, Brown may be able to secure a roster spot with a good training camp. I expect Burton to get an offer in the $7 million per year range if he hits the open market, which the Eagles most likely won't be able to match, and Celek could either retire or get released to save cap space. Brown could be the next guy up.

Verdict: STAYS

Dave: After spending his entire rookie season on the Eagles' practice squad, Brown is going to have a pretty good shot to make the roster in 2017. Brown, who came from Shepherd University, was a training camp standout last summer. He's a converted wide receiver, so he has a good past as a receiving tight end. He has to prove himself, but the path to making the 53-man roster is there.

Verdict: STAYS

Trey BurtonRoob: Burton has gone from an undrafted free agent long shot to make the roster in 2015 to one of the most attractive tight ends set to hit free agency this spring. With his soft hands, versatility and tremendous athleticism, Burton should be in line for a multi-year deal in the ballpark of $7 to $7.5 million per year. Even the Super Bowl touchdown pass speaks volumes about Burton and his ability to stay cool and composed and make a play under extreme pressure and in a situation he'd never been in as a pro. You'd love to be able to keep Burton, but Zach Ertz is the Eagles' tight end and they just don't have the cap space for the luxury of a high-priced backup.

Verdict: GOES

Dave: Burton is no longer a secret. The Eagles actually tried to extend Burton during the 2016 season, but the two sides were never really close. Burton wanted to bet on himself and now that seems wise. He played the 2017 season on a relatively cheap deal after being a restricted free agent last offseason. But now he's unrestricted this time around and other teams are going to be interested. Burton had his best season in 2016, when he caught 37 passes for 327 yards, but he did have a career-high five touchdown catches in 2017. He's going to get paid more for his potential, though, and it's going to price out the Eagles.

Verdict: GOES

Brent CelekRoob: We continue Tight End Day with the 11-year veteran, one of the most popular Eagles of the past generation. Celek will one day be enshrined in the Eagles Hall of Fame, but now he's just another veteran with a $5 million cap figure that is just too high. Maybe Celek will help the Eagles avoid a major decision by retiring. Celek has plenty of interests outside football and he's 33 years old now and has a ring, and retirement may be attractive to him. Go out on top. Or maybe he'll take a massive pay cut down to the veteran's minimum and stick around another year and get the two yards he needs for 5,000. But I think it's most likely Celek won't be here next year. Whatever happens, he'll always be remembered as a champion.

Verdict: GOES

Dave: This is a tough one just because it's Celek. He embodies the city of Philadelphia better than anyone else on the team. He's also the longest-tenured athlete in the city. It's important to him to be a career Eagle, to never play for another team. But he just can't be back in 2018 on his current salary. It doesn't make good football or business sense. His cap number in 2018 is $5 million, which is just way too high for a reserve blocking tight end. It would be tough for the Eagles to flat out cut him, but if he doesn't want to retire and doesn't want to restructure down to nearly the minimum, that's what's going to have to happen.

Verdict: GOES

Corey ClementRoob: To go from an undrafted rookie free agent running back with virtually no history as a pass catcher to a 100-yard receiver in the Super Bowl in 10 months is just insane. Clement showed me enough that I believe he can be a lead back on this team. I think the plan will be to take a good long look at Jay Ajayi this coming season, with Ajayi and Clement splitting time, then decide after 2018 whether or not to keep Ajayi, who is due to become a free agent in another year. But under any scenario, Clement will be a major part of this team's running back corps for at least the next few years.

Verdict: STAYS

Dave: I was wrong about Clement last summer. I thought he was a good running back but there was nothing special about him. I thought Wendell Smallwood deserved to be ahead of him on the depth chart. Oops. Clement had an incredible rookie season. The most incredible thing was that he became a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield, something he had never been in college or even in high school. He did everything the Eagles asked him to do in his rookie season and excelled at everything. He hasn't just earned a spot on the roster; he's earned the right to be a part of the running back rotation going forward.

Verdict: STAYS

Fletcher CoxRoob: I think Fletch might be around a while. Cox goes into his seventh season with the Eagles having made three straight Pro Bowls and is one of the most dominating interior linemen in the NFL. And he's under contract for the next five years. He stays. And will stay for the foreseeable future.

Verdict: STAYS

Dave: Sometimes we all sort of forget how good Cox really is. As an interior defensive lineman, Cox doesn't always make flashy plays. But just ask around the league about the Eagles' defense and everyone comes back with one guy on their mind: big No. 91. There's a reason he's become a perennial Pro Bowler and there's a reason he got a $100 million contract last offseason. He's the engine to the Eagles' defense and we saw him elevate his game even more in the run to the Super Bowl by barely leaving the field. This is stupid easy.

Verdict: STAYS

Vinny CurryRoob: Curry didn't really have the stat numbers to back it up, but he did play fairly well this year. He's got some massive cap numbers coming up — $11 million in 2018, $11.25 million in 2019 and $12.25 million in 2020. Those are astronomical figures for a guy who has nine sacks in his last 50 games. The Eagles could clear $5 million in cap space by releasing Curry, and that number goes up to $7.25 million next year and $10.25 million before the 2020 season. I think he stays this year, but those cap savings could be tempting for the cap-starved Eagles.

Verdict: STAYS

Dave: After a down season in 2016, Curry became a starter and had the best year of his career in 2017. Some folks will argue against that because his sack numbers weren't shocking, but Curry was just tremendously solid as a rusher and against the run in 2017. He's a big reason why the Eagles' defensive line was their top unit and why their run defense was the best in the NFL. But his cap hit of $11 million is a killer this year and first-rounder Barnett is ready to start. I think if Curry is back, it'll be after reworking that deal. But for now ...